I think I spent just as long writing this as the original (and much better) post that vanished into the great beyond. So much for not having time to do that. And then I had to add pictures.

So I didn't take time to write an intro this time. Did that, it disappeared, not writing a new one. You'll survive. Let's just jump right into...

Highlights of our visit to our Columbus Cousins

(Yeah, I know, it just makes your heart palpitate, doesn't it?) 

 *Listening to The Land on CD in the van*

I could write up an entire post on why audio books & dramas are an absolutely integral part of any road trip we make, but I won’t. Suffice it to say that being engrossed in a story keeps everyone happy and (key word here) quiet and thus goes a long way toward the preservation of sanity (mine) and tranquility. Anyway, on this trip we listened to The Land, prequel to Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry, which we’d read aloud together earlier this summer. The Land, whose main character wrestles with his identity as the son of a slave woman and her white owner, is a tad mature for Fuzz, but still appropriate and well worth the listen. It is also quite long; despite driving 5-1/2 hours each way, we did not get through all 10 hours of it and have yet to finish.

*Stopping at Cabela’s on the way down*

The Cabela’s just north of the Michigan/Ohio border is practically a natural history museum and makes a great stretch-your-legs stop. It was also a good place to pick up some fudge for our cousins and to eat our packed lunch on the vast front lawn. The latter embarrassed Spaz no end; he hurried through his lunch and even eschewed the pudding cup in favor of sitting in the van to wait for Fuzz & me to finish.

*Spending time with family*
Obviously, this was the whole point! Although we grew up a thousand miles apart and barely noticed each other when we did see each other as kids, my cousin ML and I have grown quite close as adults. The shared experience of motherhood does that to you, I think. We decided at some point that we really needed to get our families together more often than just at our bi- or tri-annual family reunions, and sometimes we actually do so. This was one of those times. She has four girls ranging from Spaz’ age to a few years younger than Fuzz, and while the girls don’t always initially know what to do with Spaz (he is, after all, a boy), once we get over that hump they all get along well.

("Over the hump"- get it?)

*Wolverines vs. Buckeyes*

We’re University of Michigan fans at my house, and Wolverines and Ohio State Buckeyes don’t mix. Yet here we were, venturing behind enemy lines into Columbus, the heart of Buckeye Country. The things we do for family! Our original plan was to have Spaz bring all four of his U of M t-shirts, wearing a different one each day so as to drive our cousins nuts. (Buckeye nuts, to be precise.) Much to Fuzz’ and my disappointment, he reneged on that plan at the last minute, preferring a greater variety of shirts. He did, however, take two of them, along with his U of M toothbrush, chapstick, pen, and fleece blanket. ML’s husband initially tried to banish the latter from his house, but relented as long as he didn’t have to look at it. Good thing; we really needed that to ward off any evil Buckeye vibes.

(I don't know why some of the text isn't conforming to size, but again, oh well. It bugs me, but not enough that I'd spend another hour trying to fix it.)

*COSI*
On Tuesday we visited the Center of Science and Industry, a kids’ science museum that I’d read about but never visited. A great time was had by all…

*Donuts and Popcorn and Ice Cream, oh my!*
We rather unintentionally had a food-themed day on Wednesday, beginning with a box of Dunkin Donuts on the kitchen island. (Don’t blame ML or me; it was all the fault of that “buy 6, get 6 free” coupon.) Then we were off to take a “tour” of a local popcorn factory. ML and her kids had not done this before and thought it’d be fun to try. As it turned out, the “tour” consisted of watching a video and sampling the many unique flavors of popcorn. Quite underwhelming to say the least, but it was fun to try such popcorn flavors as jelly bean, lemon, and pizza. We each picked out a small bag to buy, and I picked up a bag of pomegranate popcorn for Cheez and cookies-&-cream for Hubz. After that it was on to Graeter’s Ice Cream, where we looked through large windows to watch ice cream made “the old-fashioned way” with the “French pot method”. Don’t ask me what that means; I don’t remember. It sure was interesting though, and the ice cream was yummy.

Continuing on our inadvertent food theme, we followed that up with…

*My first-ever trip to Trader Joe’s*

And now I understand why people in our area will drive two hours to get to one. Where else can you get “healthy”, delicious gourmet food at nearly SuperStuffMart prices, and with a pleasant ambience to boot? The kids initially complained about this stop, and we left the older ones in the van to enhance our shopping pleasure. My two were eventually placated with a box of long-coveted Peanut Butter Panda Puffs, which cost far less at Joe’s than at our local health food and grocery stores. I lost some weight in the wallet on this stop. We so need a Trader Joe’s in the GR area.

Finally, there was...

*Just sharing in the everyday stuff*
One night we ate burgers on the deck, after which ML’s hubz got most of the kids engaged in a rousing game of backyard volleyball while ML and I talked and talked and talked some more. Another night we helped ML’s 2^nd daughter celebrate her 13^th birthday. She was not happy to have to share her special day with the President, even though we pointed out that it had been his birthday first. One morning ML had to go into work for a couple hours (after several years of homeschooling, she is now a guidance counselor at a Christian high school), which gave me an opportunity to work on my editing job while the kids read, played games, and hung out. Later I enjoyed accompanying her to worship team practice at her church. We have not been to each other’s churches and I am not highly familiar with their denomination, so it was fun to see that their worship is very similar to ours. I had taken my editing along to work on, but didn't get very far because I was singing along from my perch in the back. And in between all these doings, while the kids played Wii and board games, ML & I leafed through a scrapbook... and went online to look up possible locations for our next family reunion... and commented on each other's facebook posts from right in the very same house... and mostly just talked. 

That pretty well wraps up our visit to the Columbus Cousins, except for one final highlight…

*Making peace with the GPS*
And that one could almost be a blog post in itself. I think I'll save it.

(Yes, I know- the conclusion to this post was every bit as fabulous as the introduction. That's how it goes. You shoulda seen the post that got away. Too bad I can't remember how I ended it. Oh wait, I can. ZAP!)